Oldenburg (pop. 168,000) is situated on the Rivers Hunte and Haaren, between the cities of Bremen to the east and Groningen (Netherlands) to the west. Oldenburg is connected to shipping through the Küstenkanal. This ship canal connects the rivers Ems and Weser, handling 1.6 million tons of goods annually, making it the most critical non-coastal harbour in Lower Saxony. Bicycles play a crucial role in personal transportation.
The city is surrounded by large agricultural areas, about 80% of which is grassland with livestock, especially dairy cows. Crops grown include grains for food and animal feed, as well as asparagus, corn, and kale.
More recently, Osnabrück has become well known for its industries, including automobile, paper, steel, and grocery sectors. Despite the massive destruction inflicted on the city during World War II, the old town was eventually reconstructed. Twenty-two thousand students study at the University and the University of Applied Sciences. Although part of the state of Lower Saxony, Osnabrück is historically, culturally, and linguistically considered part of the Westphalia region.
Felix Nussbaum Haus and Museum of Cultural History houses the paintings of German-Jewish painter Felix Nussbaum, who died in the Holocaust. The building also addresses issues of racism and intolerance. The museum has three parts, featuring ~160 paintings: Nussbaum’s pre-war art, the paintings created during the war, and the paintings produced after the war. At the same time, in hiding from the Nazis (it evokes the cramped quarters in Brussels where Nussbaum painted his last canvases and lastly the artist’s newly discovered paintings.
The interior is labyrinthine, with many paths leading to dead ends. The museum’s sides face three cities where Nussbaum studied art: Berlin, Rome, and Hamburg. The fourth side faces the concentration camp where he was killed. The narrow tunnel and subdued lighting impose an atmosphere of oppression.
Self-portrait with Jewish passport
Industrial Culture Museum. The Haseschacht building, constructed in 1873, was a former colliery for stone coal that operated between 1875 and 1898, but was shortened due to water infiltration. It houses the industrial history, machinery and accesses the former tunnel.
Osnabrück Zoo. In the southeast outskirts of the city, it features a wide range of African and North American animals, comprising almost 2,200 animals from 289 species. It is famous for the Grolar Bear, a grizzly–polar bear hybrid, a rare ursid hybrid that has occurred both in captivity and in the wild. In 2006, the occurrence of this hybrid in nature was confirmed by testing the DNA of a unique-looking bear that had been shot near Sachs Harbour, Northwest Territories, on Banks Island in the Canadian Arctic. Two grizzly–polar hybrid cubs (one female and one male) were born at the zoo in 2004. Their bodies are smaller than those of polar bears but larger than those of grizzlies, while their heads fall between the broader grizzly head and the leaner polar bear head. They have long necks like polar bears, but small shoulder humps like grizzlies. The soles of their feet are partially covered in hair; polar bears have hair-covered soles, which act as insulation, and grizzlies have hairless soles. Similarly, the hair of the hybrids exhibits a pattern of hollowness, which blends the traits of both polar bears and grizzlies. In cross-section, the hair of polar bears is hollow, while the hair of grizzlies is either solid or has small hollow regions.
At the entrance is a Planetarium and a Natural Museum.
GERMANY – LOWER SAXONY (Hannover, Braunschweig) August 28-29, 2019
LÜNEBURG
Luneburg University’s Libeskind Building. In the NM “Modern Architecture Buildings” series, this aluminum-clad building features angles on all its sides, including the windows, interior, and exterior. The most prominent is a 45° “prow” that extends above the entrance. .
Dat ole Huus, Wilsede. This house is one of many ancient houses and farms (most from the 1700s, but a few older and many newer) in the Luneberger Heide, a nature park where vehicles aren’t allowed (although I unknowingly drove in). The cobblestone roads are paralleled by dusty dirt tracks, which serve as the primary method of transportation for horse-drawn carts and carriages, and are filled with many older adults. Bicycles are also ordinary, although the tracks are not suitable for them.
Dat ole Huus is a half-timbered house with red brick fill and a thatch roof. It is full of ethnographic material – farm equipment, kitchen items, butter churns, etc. Only German. €3, no reduction.
Heide Park Resort. This theme park features a variety of rides, including 16 food venues and seven thrill-seeker rides, primarily roller coasters. €39 for all day
Rischmannshof Heath Museum, Walsrode. An open-air museum featuring mostly two-story half-timbered houses, as well as post-and-beam structures with plank siding. All have thatched roofs. It contains period furniture. €2.50
HANOVER
Hannover Hbf features a lovely older brick-fronted building, with the majority of the station being a new addition. It has two levels of shops, including a Lidl. Trains leave from the basement level.
HILDESHEIM
St Mary’s Cathedral and St Michael’s Church. This World Heritage-listed cathedral is somewhat disappointing, as it underwent a 2011-15 renovation that makes the church appear new.
The son of Charlemagne built the first church here between 851 and 875, where a silver vessel containing a fragment of the cloak of Mary was discovered (where the thousand-year-old rose grows outside the apse). Over the centuries, it underwent constant changes: the nave was destroyed by fire and rebuilt from 1054 to 1079, the Gothic side chapels were added in the 14th and 15th centuries, and finally, it was changed to a Baroque style in the 17th and 18th centuries. It was destroyed on March 22, 1944, and was rebuilt in the 11th-century style.
Highlights: Doors of St. Bernard – the oldest bronze doors of the Middle Ages, featuring two wings of 8 panels each. Bronze font from the 13th century with the Virgin Mary and the baptism of Christ. The wheel chandelier – 18 feet across – is the most enormous chandelier of the Middle Ages. The wheel chandelier in the apse is also from the Middle Ages. New crystal cross on the 11th-century Easter candlestick—Eagle lectern. Christ’s column – 24 scenes from the life of Christ wind their way up a spiral on the black marble column. Crypt – bejewelled brass reliquary of the Virgin Mary and a 14th-century polychrome of the Virgin and baby with tiny jewelled crowns. The thousand-year rose is many centuries old and climbs the outside of the apse.
BRAUNSCHWEIG
Dankwarderode Castle (Herzog Anton Ulrich {1633–1714} Museum). This majestic 3-story stone palace holds an art museum. The 2nd floor was closed and the first has 3 centuries of art dating from the 1500s, the sort of art I don’t enjoy much. It features a Rembrandt, a Rubens, and a Vermeer. Typically €9, reduced to €6 with the closed floor.
Botanical Garden of TU Braunschweig. This is a lovely small garden. The cacti, some amazing water plants, and a few large trees. Free
WOLFSBURG
Fallersleben Castle. This 3-story half-timbered manor house houses the museum dedicated to August Hoffmann (1798-1874), who was born in Fallersleben, where his father was mayor. The town becomes part of the French kingdom of Westphalia. He is a poet and researches German culture, becoming a professor at Breslau University. He fought against aristocratic rule and censorship, and wrote critical songs, which led to his dismissal from the university. In the next 7 years, he spent no longer than one week anywhere and is disappointed that the 1848 revolution re-established the old order. In 1849, at the age of 51, he marries his 18-year-old niece, has four children (his wife and three children die in 1860), and lives life as a librarian in Corvey. He has significant income from his folksongs written with simple rhyming lyrics and music. He composed the German national anthem, “The Song of the Germans,” which was adopted in 1990. Free `
Wolfsburg Planetarium. Features a regular series of shows that showcase all elements of astronomy. €6, no reduction
Automuseum Volkswagen. Construction started in 1938 but was subverted for military use in World War II in 1940. After the war, the vehicle was administered by the British, and 1705 VWs were produced in 1945, with 20,000 in 1948. The one millionth car was made in 1956. New plants were opened in Hanover, Brazil, Emden, and Sarajevo until 1972. The last Beetle was created in Germany in 1974. The one millionth Golf was produced in 1976 and was later joined by the Czech company Skoda in 1990.
There is a large hall with 150 vehicles, 30 of which are Beetles (including one covered in wicker, one made of wood, and one with only a decorative iron frame, featuring postage stamps). There are also 10 vans, racing cars, engines, and many more, but no Californias. In the early 1970s, they started producing the Scirocco, Passat, Golf, and Polo (with water cooling instead of air, in-line instead of boxer engines, front-wheel drive, and a functional design instead of curves). All the signs following each vehicle are in German only – ask for the English guide. €6, reduced by 3 (they wouldn’t let me in for free because I owned a VW).
Wolfsburg Castle. This 1758, 5-story, huge square building has a courtyard on the south and houses a contemporary art museum. Free
Salzgitter. (pop 101,000)An independent city in southeast Lower Saxony between Hildesheim and Braunschweig. Salzgitter originated as a conglomeration of several small towns and villages and is today composed of 31 boroughs, which are relatively compact conurbations with vast stretches of open countryside between them. The main shopping street of the young city is located in the borough of Lebenstedt, while the central business district is situated in the borough of Salzgitter-Bad. The town is connected to the Mittellandkanal and the Elbe Lateral Canal by a distributary. The nearest metropolitan areas are Braunschweig, approximately 23 kilometres (14 miles) to the northeast, and Hanover, about 51 kilometres (32 miles) to the northwest. The population of the City of Salzgitter has exceeded 100,000 inhabitants since its foundation in 1942. Besides Wolfsburg, Leverkusen and Eisenhüttenstadt, Salzgitter is therefore one of the few cities in Germany founded during the 20th century.
Mines of Rammelsberg, Historic Town of Goslar and Upper Harz Water Management System. The Upper Harz mining water management system, located south of the Rammelsberg mines and the town of Goslar, has been developed over a period of approximately 800 years to support the extraction of ore for the production of non-ferrous metals. Its construction was first undertaken in the Middle Ages by Cistercian monks, and it was then developed on a vast scale from the end of the 16th century until the 19th century. It is composed of a highly complex yet perfectly coherent system of artificial ponds, small channels, tunnels, and underground drains. It enabled the development of water power for use in mining and metallurgical processes. It is a significant site for mining innovation in the Western world.
The copper, lead and tin mines of Rammelsberg mountain were worked continuously from the 11th century until the 1980s. The remains of the Cistercian monastery of Walkenried and the mines of the Upper Harz bear witness to the first attempts to systematically extract non-ferrous metal ores (including silver, lead, tin, and copper) in Europe and to develop water-management systems for this purpose.
Located close to the Rammelsberg mines, the town of Goslar played an essential part in the Hanseatic League because of the richness of the Rammelsberg metal ore veins. Between the 10th and 12th centuries, it became one of the seats of the Holy Roman Empire. Its historic centre, which dates back to the Middle Ages, is perfectly preserved, and includes some 1,500 timber-framed houses from the 15th to 19th centuries. The Upper Harz water-management system, with its extensive surface area comprising a large number of artificial ponds and ditches, as well as drains and underground shafts, bears testimony to the importance of water management and use for mining purposes, including drainage and power generation.
All that remains of the mines are old mine tailings in a nature park.
Harz National Park is a nature reserve in both Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. It comprises portions of the western Harz mountain range. Approximately 95% of the area is covered with forests, mainly consisting of spruce and beech woods, as well as several bogs, granite rocks, and creeks. It was created in 2006 by the merger of the Harz National Park in Lower Saxony, established in 1994, and the Upper Harz National Park in Saxony-Anhalt, established in 1990. As the former inner German border ran through the Harz, large parts of the range were prohibited areas that, apart from the fortifications, had remained completely unaffected for decades.
Rare animals of the Harz National Park include the dipper, the black stork, peregrine falcon, the European wildcat and especially the Eurasian lynx. The last lynx in the Harz Mountains was shot in 1818, but in 1999, a reintroduction project was established. Since 2002, several wild lynxes have given birth to offspring. An attempt to return the capercaillie (Auerhuhn) was, however, unsuccessful.
Recently, the Harz National Park has suffered from bark beetle outbreaks as well as acid rain and other environmental problems. The bark beetle is on the rise here due to climate change and global warming. Since 2006, there has been an increase in bark beetle graduation. Hurricane Kyrill also caused severe damage in the region. Stands of trees, especially spruce, were torn down over vast areas.
